Spring-mounted vehicle-wheel.



S. M. COWAN & E. W. BARNUM.

SPRING MOUNTED VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLIGATION FILED 0GT.25, 1911.

Patented July 22, 1913.

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S. M. COWAN & E. W. BARNUM.

SPRING MOUNTED VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLIOATION FILED 0OT.25, 1911. gg'ngg Patented July 22, 1913.

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SAMUEL 1VI. COWAN, OF NEW YORK, N. FL, AND EDWARDS W. BARNUlVE, OFDANBURY, CONNECTICUT.

SPRING-MOUNTED VEHICLE-WHEEL.

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To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, SAMUEL M. CowAN, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, and Fnwanns N. BARNUM, of Danbury, Fairfield county,Connecticut, citizens of the United States, and residents of said NewYork and Danbury, respectively, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Spring-Mounted Vehicle-Wheels, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to wheels and particularly toresilient bearingsor skeins for vehicles in which the hub or bearing member of the skeinis arranged independently of the axle and so as to permit a movementrelative to each other in a vertical plane,

to be provided with a resilient element between said members to absorbthe shocks and vibrations to which the outer or bear ing member issubjected, the object of this arrangement being to substitute in placeof the pneumatic tire treads commonly employed, a resilient devicesuitably inclosed so as to be free from the wear and liability ofpuncture to which the ordinary pneumatic tire is subject, and to providemeans for adjusting the tension of such resilient device.

A further object of the present invention is to produce a wheel adaptedfor automobiles and automobile trucks that will successfully meet therequirements of a vehicle of this character; which will beco1nparatively simple in construction, strong and durable, with littlepossibility of the parts becoming disarranged, and adapted to permit thegreatest possible resiliency and thereby absorb all shocks and jars tothe body of the vehicle.

With these and other objects in View the invention consists in theconstruction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafterfully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointedout in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that variouschanges in the form, proportion, size and minor details of constructionwithin the scope of the claims may be resorted to without departure fromthe spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Similar characters of reference denote Specification of Letters Patent.

AppIication filed October 25, 1911.

Patented July 22, 1913.

Serial No. 656,742.

like or corresponding parts throughout the several figures of theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and uponwhich,

Figure 1 shows a sectional side elevation of our improved cushion wheel;Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the wheel shown in Fig. 1 and having partof its lower portion broken away and shown in section. Fig. 3 is anenlarged cross-section, looking down, and taken on line 8*3 of Fig. 1;and Fig. 4 shows a further cross-section, but taken on line t-4 of Fig.1.

Our improved wheel differs somewhat from other resilient or springwheels in that the springs are not in the nature of spokes and do notturn with the wheel, but instead are carried in a hanger secured to theaxle and having suitable non-rotatable bearings upon which therotary-portion of the wheel is mounted to turn. The device thereforeincludes a non-rotatable hub member upon which the body of the wheelrotates, and a cushioning device that is in corporated inthenon-rotatable hub memher, so that the axle is relieved from the joltsand jars caused bypassing over such unevennesses in road as may beengaged. We employ two sets of these coil springs, one above and theother below the axle so as to directly carry the load'thereof.

The mechanism of the wheel is entirely inclosed so as to eliminate anypossibility of dirt getting into the wheel, and thus further serves togive the effect of being a solid wheel.

Referring in detail to the characters of reference marked upon thedrawings 6 rep resents an axle which is provided with a collar 7 uponits inner end and a nut- 8 upon its outer end. A sleeve 9 is secured tothis shaft between the said collar and nut by means of a key 10 to holdthe sleeve with the axle, against turning. The enlarged central portionof the sleeve is transversely bored and threaded to receive the threadedends of the two directly opposed tubular casings 11-11. In practicethese two casings are screwed into place in the member 9 before itslongitudinal hole is bored therethrough. Therefore it will be obviousthat a part of the opposite sides of the inner ends of the tubularcasings are cut away to allow the axle to be inserted. In practice oneof these casings is disposed up and the other down, directly above andbelow the axle. They each serve to partially inclose the coil springs 12and 13 of which there are two in each casing. As before stated there aretwo of these spring devices which are exactly" alike in construction,and therefore like reference characters will be used to indicate similarparts in the two sets of mechanisms. The sleeve 9 is recessed as at 14:to receive a worm gear 15 that is mounted upon a radially disposed stud16. The hub 17 of said gear has its bearing in a collar 18 thatthreadably engages the internal thread of the inner end of casings andis further secured to the sleeve 9 by means of screws 19 passingtherethrough and into the sleeve. A nut 20 is keyed to move upon theouter end of this stud 16 and has its peripheral face threaded to alsoengage the internal threads of the said tubular casing so that when thegear and stud are turned the nut will also be turned and by reason ofits threaded engagement with the casing will also be adjusted in and outto regulate the tension of one of the springs 13. The gear 15 isoperated by means of a worm 21 that is journaled transversely in apocket of the sleeve 9 where it is inclosed by means of a nut 22. Theinside of this shaft for this worm is squared to receive a key or wrench(not shown), by means of which the worm and gear are operated to adjustthe tension of the larger spring 13. The inner end of the smaller spring12' tightly abuts against the outer end of the said stud while the outerend of said spring similarly engages the inclosing cap 23 secured in theouter spring casing 24. The larger spring 13' is loosely seated betweenthesaid cap 23 and the before mentioned adjustable nut 20, while thesmaller one is tight, being slightly compressed when inserted. Thisinsures the smaller spring carryingthe normal load of an empty vehicleand the larger spring serves to take care of the greater loads and jarsand jolts carried by the engagement of the wheel with unusualobstructions. This cap 23 is screwed into the end of the cylindricalbores ofthe outer casings 2% and is locked in position by means of a setscrew 25. The outer or female double ended casing members 24: are joinedtogether by an intermediate cylindrical portion 26 that extends outwardupon two sides to form bearings 26 for the outer or rotary hub portionof the wheel. These casings are mounted upon the inner or tubular malemembers 11 and are made slidable thereon, a groove 43 being provided inthe member 24 and a key is secured to each of the members 11 so that thesaid outer member may be permitted to yield against the action of thesprings and irrespective of any movement of the axle. The cylin dricalportion 26 sulrounds the sleeve and is spaced therefrom, so as not toengage the axle and sleeve 9. Upon each of said bearings is mounted ahard steel bearing ring 27 that is grooved to receive the balls 2S forthe formation of a ball bearing for the wheel. These bearing rings areheld in place by end nuts 29 and 29 that threadably engage the ends ofsaid bearings 26 7 The rotary wheel member is mounted to turn upon andaround the foregoing construction and includes a suitable solid tire 30that is held between the peripheral edge portions of the two side plates31 of the wheel by bolts 32 and 33. To the inner edges of this sideplate is secured by means of short bolts 34 an inner and outer hub 35and 36 respectively. Each of these hubs is also provided with a hardsteel bearing ring 37 which is arranged line with the before mentionedrings 27 and are also grooved to accommodate the ball bearings 28referred to, and whereby the rotary or outer operative member of thewheel is per mitted to smoothly turn upon such inner hub member. Theinner ring 37 is secured in place by means of an internal ringn'ut 38which also serves toinclose the side of the pocket formed for the balls.The inner nut 29 is provided with a flange 39 that extends out over aportion of the before mentioned internal nut 38 to close the joint andmake the bearings dust proof. An in-; closing cap 4o having a suitableshouldered head 41 for a wrench is threadably attached to the outer hub36 as shown in Fig. 2 to entirely cover and inclose the outer ballbearings and connecting parts. A sprocket 42 can be secured to one sideof the wheel as shown in Fig. 2, if desired, though this feature ofcourse is optional.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the bearings 26 and nuts 29 and29 are nonrot-atable, but are suitably turned out and spaced from theaxle and sleeve to allow ample movement of: the said parts toward andfrom the shaft without striking the same. It will further noted thatthis outer rotary wheel member is mounted to closely turn upon the innerhubs 35 and 36' which, together with the casings 24 and said wheelmember is adapted tovibrate with respect to the axle and fixed sleevemember mounted thereon.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secureby Letters' Patent is 1'. In a vehicle wheel, the combination of a fixedcentral member to receive an axle, and having extended tubular springcases, a bearing member spaced from but supported upon the centralmember and bearing spring cases to register with those of the fixedmember, a spring device within the said cases, and a nut, gear and wormfor adjusting the tension of the said springs.

2. In a. vehicle wheel, the combination of a sleeve adapted to receivean axle, and having extended fixed spring cases, a bearing member spacedfrom but supported upon the sleeve and having tubular casings slidablykeyed to and telescoping the outer ends of the before mentioned cases,and spring devices within the said cases.

3. In a vehicle wheel, the combination of a fixed central member toreceive an axle, of tubular spring cases extended upward and downwardfrom the central member, a nonrotatable bearing member carried upon thecentral member and having cases slidable on and keyed to register withthose of the central member, and a pairof springs arranged on each ofthe telescoping cases and between the central member and bearing member.

1. In a vehicle wheel, the combination of a fixed central member toengage an axle and having oppositely extended spring cases, an0nr0tatable inner hub member having oppositely disposed spring cases tocover those of the central member, a pair of springs within the saidcasings, and means within the fixed central member for adjusting thetension of one of said springs.

5. In a Vehicle wheel, the combination of a central member fixed to anaxle and having extended tubular spring cases, a worm gear mountedtherein, a stud upon which the gear is mountedfan adjustable nut uponthe stud, a bearing member spaced from but supported upon the centralmember and having spring cases to register with those of the fixedmember, a spring device within the said cases and bearing against thesaid adjust-able nut, and means for operating the said gear and nut toadjust said springs.

Signed at New York city, N. Y., this 21st day of October, 1911.

SAMUEL M. COWAN. Witnesses: v GEO. F. VAN VALKENBURGH, IsAAo LINDE.Signed at Danbury, Fairfield county, Connecticut, this 20 day ofOctober, 1911.

EDWARDS W. BARNUM. Witnesses:

JOHN M. BELDEN, FRED D. MILLS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

